The Stone Man Cometh

My wife calls me ‘The Stone Man’. Take that anyway you want to, but I know she’s speaking of my love of natural stone for my landscape projects. She found this out the first time we met. You see, she’d just purchased her first house and wanted to create her dream backyard. Finding an advertisement for my company in our local paper, I was one of the contractors she interviewed to take on the project. Luckily for me I got the job, and as it turned out, the girl too.

We collaborated, very closely at times, to create a contemporary garden using classic materials. Her West Coast experiences guided her taste as we set about planning this East Coast urban space.

The gardens included a bluestone patio made from old city-sidewalk slabs, accented with freshly cut squares of a purple stone, locally-known as ‘Lilac’ bluestone. Simple and colorful shrubs (clematis, butterfly bush, grasses and red twig dogwoods), lots of room for annuals (zinnias and herbs) softened the city buildings that loomed beyond her fences. Landscape lighting enhanced her evening get-togethers.

Our running joke is that ‘she answered my ad’. No eHarmony for us – ours was business, pure and simple...at least until the final check cleared.

Nearly 10 years of marriage and a few houses later, we’re still making beautiful gardens together. How Lucky am I?